I'm so grateful to the Fairmount Market farmers who weathered last Sunday's showers to bring us food and flowers that brighten our kitchens and broaden our minds. I'd never tasted cutting celery (or leaf celery or smallage) before, but was eager to try this wild celery variant that is more leaf than stalk. We headed home from the market a little damper than we had started. To warm us up, I cooked some rain drenched tomatoes into a quick pot of creamy tomato soup that tasted perfect for the impending start of the school year. As an afterthought, I chopped up a pesto garnish of cutting celery and walnuts, which added a burst of bright flavor to the silky soup and reminded us that it's still summer vacation.

The next day, when the sun was shining again, I made a delicious late summer salad of astringent cutting celery leaves and sweet Asian pears, softened with cubes of creamy feta cheese. In soup and salad, these leaves pack a vibrant punch and they are definitely worth walking through the rain to procure.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Cutting Celery Pesto

serves four

for the soup12 roma tomatoes2 Tbsp butter1 large shallot or small onion1 clove garlic1 cup water or stock1/2 cup milk, half and half, or creamsalt and pepper to tastefor the pesto1 handful cutting celery leaves 1 handful walnutspinch of salt1 Tbsp olive oil1. Peel and dice the onion and garlic. If you like, peel the tomatoes by coring them, scoring them with an "X" at the back end, and blanching them in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin. Chop the tomatoes into 6 to 8 pieces. Set a kettle with 1 cup of water and start warming a soup pot over medium heat. 2. Melt the butter in the soup pot and add the shallot or onion. Cook until soft, then add the garlic, cook a couple minutes longer, then add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until the tomatoes have cooked down into a paste, about 15 minutes. Add the water or stock and simmer for 5 more minutes.3. Blend the soup until smooth in a blender or using and immersion blender. Return to the pot, add the milk or cream, and warm (but don't allow to boil). Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.4. Meanwhile, chop the celery leaves and walnuts together into a coarse pesto and stir together with a pinch of salt and 1 Tbsp of olive oil.5. Serve the soup warm with a dollop of celery leaf pesto.

Cutting Celery and Asian Pear Salad

2 large handfuls cutting celery leaves2 Asian pearsjuice from 1 lemon4 ounces feta cheese, cubed1 Tbsp white wine vinegar2 Tbsp olive oilsalt and plenty of fresh black pepperCore and slice the Asian pears and toss them in a salad bowl with the lemon juice to prevent then from browning. Toss in the celery leaves and feta cheese. Whisk together the vinegar and olive oil and pour over the salad. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Any recipe that calls for canned tomatoes can be transform by using fresh roma tomatoes at the peek of summer. For this summer fish soup, prepared in a minimal beach house kitchen with my sister-in-law, we made a intensely tomatoey base by slow roasting romas, garlic, and spicy peppers. With all of the rich flavors of summer, we didn't need any spices other than a sprinkle of salt.

olive oil8 ounce bottle clam juice1/4 bottle white wine1 lb firm white fish such as cod12 jumbo shrimpsaltflat leaf parsley, chopped1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat a couple of baking dishes with a thin layer of olive oil. Halve and core the tomatoes, rub the cut sides in the olive oil, turn them facing upwards, and sprinkle with salt. Halve and seed the peppers and add them to one of the pans, along with the unpeeled cloves of garlic. Slow roast for about 40 to 50 minutes, until the tomatoes are completely softened and collapsed. Let the vegetables cool enough to handle. Peel the garlic cloves and mince them, along with the peppers. If you like, you can easily slip off the tomato skins, or keep them on and coarsely chop. Reserve the chopped vegetables to add to the soup.2. While the tomatoes are roasting, you can make a quick stock for the soup and chop all the rest of the vegetables. Cut the corn kernels from the cobs. Reserve the kernels and add the cobs to a 6 quart pot. Rinse the leeks well, dice the white parts for the soup, and coarsely chop the green parts and add to the pot. Rinse and trim the celery stalks, dice the stalks for the soup, and add the tops to the pot. Scrub the carrots, peel and dice, and add the peels to the pot. If you like, you can peel the shrimp and add the peels to the pot (but if you are on vacation, leave the peeling for each person at the dinner table). Add 4 cups of water and a generous pinch of salt to the stock pot and then simmer the stock on medium low for about 30 minutes. Strain the stock into a large bowl or another pot and reserve (you should have 2-3 cups). 3. Now start the soup. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. When it is warm, add a generous glug of olive oil (about 3 Tbsp). Add the diced leeks and saute until soft, about five minutes. Add the celery and carrots and saute for another five minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes, peppers, and garlic. Use a ladle full of stock to rinse the pans in which you roasted the tomatoes and add this to the soup pot. Add the clam juice, a quarter bottle of white wine, and enough stock to create the consistency of a thick soup. Simmer on low for about fifteen minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. At this point you could turn off the soup and finish it later.4. Shortly before you want to eat, finish the soup. Rinse the seafood and chop the fish into 1 inch chunks. To the simmering soup, add the corn kernels, then the fish pieces, and then the shrimp, letting it return to a simmer after each addition. Cover and simmer for about five minutes until the shrimp are pink and cooked. Taste once more and add a splash more white wine or pinch of salt as needed. Turn off the soup and sprinkle generously with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with plenty of crusty bread.

This is turning out to be the summer of the pudding. First I discovered tapioca flamingos. Then, before one of my son's swim lessons a few weeks ago, I bought him a chocolate pudding to help tide him over before dinner, and as it happened that lesson turned out to be the watershed during which he finally transitioned from flailing to swimming. He, of course, attributed his new skills to the pudding and was convinced that he would need a steady supply to keep himself afloat in the future.

Although I didn't want to endorse this logic, I also felt that it wouldn't hurt to have a good homemade chocolate pudding recipe in my repertoire. I tried out one from food52 that proved to be a keeper. It uses tapioca flour instead of cornstarch ("just what we need in the house is yet another kind of flour" my husband commented wryly) and is all assembled in a blender. The addition of fresh blackberries before the pudding sets produces a decadent dessert that tastes as good as walking on water.

2 large egg yolks3 Tbsp tapioca flour1/4 cup sugar1/2 cup heavy cream1 cup whole milk (or use 3/4 cup heavy cream and 3/4 cup reduced fat milk)1/2 tsp fine sea salt1 tsp vanilla extract6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (60% or more cacao)1/2 pint blackberrieslightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)1. Put the egg yolks and tapioca flour in a blender and blend on low speed until a light-colored paste forms. You will need to scrape down the sides of the blender jar a couple times, but don't worry if you have some tapioca flour dust that doesn't get incorporated.2. Combine the sugar, cream, milk, salt, and vanilla in a saucepan set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Turn the blender containing the egg and tapioca mixture back on low. Quickly and carefully, pour the hot milk mixture into the blender and increase the speed to medium. The heat will cook the egg yolks and allow the tapioca to thicken to the consistency of thick mayonnaise.3. With the blender running, add the chocolate in stages so it is emulsified into the pudding. When all the chocolate is added, strain the pudding into 8 small serving glasses or bowls (I used small canning jars). Add 1/8 cup of blackberries to each glass and gently tap so that the berries become submerged, or press them down with a spoon. Let the pudding cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to cool completely. Top with whipped cream and more berries if you like.

At the height of summer, jewel purple eggplants like the beauties above demand our attention. I took inspiration from a recipe by smitten kitchen and piled grilled eggplant slices with diced tomato, feta cheese, and mint, with a splash of pomegranate molasses.

I also picked up a package of Camas Country Mill red chief lentils and a hefty spring onion to try my hand at the lentil and rice dish, mujaddara. I mostly followed a recipe from Rivka of food52, which starts with a big pot of browned onions that are mixed into separately cooked rice and lentils. But feeling a little lazy about pot washing, I followed Melissa Clark's method for making this a one pot dish by presoaking the lentils and then cooking them together with the rice. Choose your method, depending on your level of risk aversion, but definitely make the spiced yogurt sauce to accompany it.

Grilled Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint

1 large eggplant, sliced

olive oil for brushing

1 large tomato, diced

2 ounces feta cheese, diced

10 mint leaves, minced

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tablespoon olive oil

Brush the eggplant slices with a little olive oil. Cook over a hot grill or on a grill pan, flipping once, until soft and partly charred. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Mound onto the grilled eggplant slices.

for the Mujaddara1 cups small lentils such as Camas Country Mill red chief or French puy1 cup jasmine rice2 tablespoons butter3 tablespoons olive oil6 cups onions (about 3 medium onions), halved and thinly sliced3 1/2 cups waterabout 1 teaspoon saltFor the yogurt1/2 cup full fat or Greek yogurt1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon cumin (freshly ground, if possible)1/2 teaspoon coriander (freshly ground)1/2 teaspoon spicy paprika or aleppo pepper3 tablespoons chopped fresh mintjuice and zest of half a lemon1/4 teaspoon salt1. Sort through the lentils to remove any pebbles, rinse, and set to soak in a fresh water while you prepare the onions.2. Set a wide, deep saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat and add butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter has mostly melted, add onions and toss to incorporate with butter and oil. After 5 minutes, onions will have softened slightly and started to release their liquid. Raise heat to medium and cook 10 to 12 minutes more, until onions are very soft and browned. Add water by the tablespoon if pan gets too dry or if onions start to stick. When onions are well browned, add last tablespoon of olive oil and raise heat to high. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until bottom layer of onions has charred and crisped; try not to stir too much, or onions won't crisp up. Remove the onions to a bowl and lower the heat to medium-low.3. Toss the rice into the pot and stir to coat with the remaining oil for about one minute. Drain the lentils and add to the pot. Add 3 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt, bring to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and let cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and check the rice and lentils. Add more water and salt if needed and cook for another five minutes if needed. Otherwise, stir in the cooked onions and any accumulated juices, and let sit for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Note: you can also cook the lentils and rice separately and mix them together with the cooked onions.4. Meanwhile, make the yogurt: mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve alongside the mujaddara.

Fair Valley Farm has been offering a special on big chickens. These five plus pounders may seem like a big commitment, but in fact they can simplify your life. Here's the game plan: bring home your big chicken from the market and thaw it in a warm water bath. Then get out your poultry shears and carve it up. Grill the breasts that evening with other fresh veggies from the market. Freeze the backbone for making stock. And toss the legs and wings into a slow cooker along with some canned tomatoes, chipotle chiles, garlic, and herbs for a delicious Puebla Chicken Tinga from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday.

Bayless' cookbook is a treasure trove of delicious slow cooker recipes, including my favorite tomatillo pork with white beans. My sister alerted me to this chicken recipe, tucked away as a variant of Chicken a la Veracruzana. It produced perfectly spiced, tender, tomatoey stewed chicken that makes a delicious taco filling. It also freezes well, so you'll thank yourself later for cooking up a big batch now.

2 to 3 pounds chicken legs and wings4 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo sausage (optional)1 medium onion, sliced28 ounce can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)2 or 3 sliced seeded canned chipotle chiles and 1 Tbsp of their adobe sauce3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce1 tsp each fresh oregano and thyme leaves2 scant tsp saltLayer the sliced onion in the bottom of your slow cooker, place the chicken pieces on top, and if using, sprinkle over sausage removed from the casing and crumbled. In a bowl, mix together the tomatoes, chipotle chiles, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, herbs, and salt, and pour over the chicken. Set the lid in place and slow cook on high for 6 hours (the dish can hold on the slow cooker's "keep warm" function for 4 more hours or so). With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken pieces. Remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken. If the sauce seems too liquid, you can reduce it by heating over medium heat. Return the shredded chicken to the sauce, adjust seasoning, and serve on soft tortillas with your favorite taco fixings such as rice, avocado, sour cream, shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, and lime.

The Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, Eugene, OR

The eighth season of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market was held from June 4th, 2017 through October on Sundays from10 AM to 2 PMon the Sun Automotive lot on the corner of Agate St. and 19th Ave. For more information about the market, contact Jonah and Amber of Camas Swale Farm at camas.swale.farm@gmail.com.

About this blog

This blog offers cooking ideas and recipes for produce and other foods purchased from vendors at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market and other local farmers.